Feist

Feist: Look at What the Light Did Now - Thursday March 17, 9PM ET, The Movie Network

As part of the 'hidden gems' programming on TMN, this documentary follows the making of Feist's landmark album 'The Reminder.' Cameras capture the studio recordings, which are interesting, but the real meat is the creation of the live show. Feist's comments about bringing a wide range of artists together to create a whole pierced my cynical soul, and reminded me (no pun intended) that no matter how many times I've heard the album, it's still beautiful, fresh and ambitious.

When I first heard that Stephen Colbert was doing a Christmas special, I had my doubts. It didn't seem in character. You don't see Bill O'Reilly and his type doing Christmas specials. However, upon watching the show, I think that's the point. There's also the idea of holiday commercialism and making a buck that the character of Stephen Colbert definitely believes in.

Okay, brass tacks: the special was funny. It was a commercial holiday special that took the piss out of the commercialness of the holiday yet had a heart at its center. This could easily have seemed as corny as the 1970's shows that they were doing a pastiche of, but it came across as cute and fun.

It's sad when you can't remember who won the last American Idol. Oh yeah, David Cook. And we're avid fans around this house, too.

Simon Cowell probably remembers, but, apparently, he's as bored as the rest of us. In a TVGuide.com story, he says of Season 7, "I was a little bored ... I think [last season] the talent was great, and the ratings were great, I just think it could be more interesting and controversial."

That's why he plans to mix it up a little come January 2009, when he'll be taking a larger role in the show, perhaps compensating for executive producer Nigel Lythgoe stepping back to focus on his other show, So You Think You Can Dance.

The new season of Sesame Street is right around the corner and, while I normally wouldn't give it a second thought, I am unusually excited right now. No, this isn't a snarky rant about how I've been driven to children's TV because of the sorry state of grown-up programming. Sesame Street's 39th season, starting August 11th, looks like it has a lot of fun lined up not only for the pre-schoolers but parents as well. I already posted Feist's upcoming special take on "1 2 3 4", but I had no idea how many amazing guest appearances were coming. Just check out this star-filled highlight reel after the jump.

Man, oh man. I love counting. Sometimes I do it just to do it. I know I'm often alienating some of my less-educated friends (toddlers) when I start spitting those numbers, but I can't help it! Counting is wonderful.

In fact, the only thing I love more than counting is the sound of a breathy Canadian singer. Imagine my delight when I was sent this video of Feist singing a special version of her famous "1 2 3 4" (aka "That song from the iPod commercial where there's a chick in something blue and sparkly") with some lovable faces on Sesame Street(as we mentioned a few months ago).

According to Pitchfork, Feist has recorded a special version of "1234" to air on an upcoming episode of Sesame Street. Someone want to explain this to me? Is it simply because the lyrics have numbers in them and by default it must be educational for small children? One quick glance at the words and it seems like the song is all about teenage love and how much it sucks. Is this really a song you want your toddler bopping around to?

Although, I suppose it doesn't really matter. That Apple iPod commercial that popularized the tune was on TV, oh I dunno, only every 4.3 seconds. I'm sure Steve Jobs is salivating at this news, armed with a business plan to release the brand new iPod Jr. around the same time. I hear it comes with a built in sippy cup!

(S33E04) From Brian Williams' guest spots and cameos on The Daily Show, I already knew he was a surprisingly funny guy. He has an incredibly dry delivery and that level of newsman integrity paired with any remotely dirty joke is absolutely hilarious. That said, I still was not sure how he would deal with a live show. After all, even the funniest of comedians or most polished of actors can fall flat on their face when pressured with the threat of no edits, no do-overs.

I am very happy to report that Mr. Brian Williams did a spectacular job. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up joining the ranks of hosting gods Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin some day. His performance was crisp and professional, and I'm sure people that only know him from his news program were caught completely off guard. Too bad the writing this week was below average.

Now I know how Apple manages to pump up iTunes sales; they play an iPod ad with a certain song so many times that millions of people have no other option but to log on and download that song, just in an effort to get it out of their heads before they snap.

Case in point: The current ad for the new iPod Nano plays the song "1234" by Feist. I guess they used the song so Apple could show the different colors of Nano while Ms. Feist counts off in a sing-songy fashion. Also I think they want to show how great a video with a large number of people in it (she uses a large backing chorus on the song) looks on the Nano's itty-bitty screen (though I can barely see it on the ad, but whatever).